By Tanya Batson-Savage, Staff Reporter
Cherry (Deon Silvera) and Sonia (Terri Salmon) try to decide which passport to go back to the embassy with after their first rejection in Aston Cooke's Single Entry. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
ASTON COOKE'S Single Entry, which opened at the Barn Theatre, Oxford Road, St. Andrew, on Wednesday night, is a funny, relevant comedy. Directed by Michael Nicholson, the play focuses on the exploits of two women in their attempts to get a United States visa and what happens after they do. The major roles are played by Deon Silvera (Cherry) and Terri Salmon (Sonia), with Jerry Benswick (Mark) and Paul Skeen (Sheldon) playing the supporting roles.
The play touches on varying issues, ranging from politics to prostitution. Although it manages to be funny, Single Entry attempts to touch on too many things to maximise its effectiveness, especially since the topics presented are too important to simply glance at. Rather than plot development, different situations were strung together, some of which could have simply been edited out to make the overall production stronger.
UNDER-DEVELOPED
The result was that the characters were also equally under-developed, a shame especially for Cherry and Sonia, who spend so much time on the stage and are evidently very interesting women. Additionally, attention to the importance of the women's friendship appears to be almost a last minute decision.
Even so, one quickly develops high expectations of the play because it establishes itself as a smart comedy from the get-go. Although the jokes begin as soon as the play does, the script also immediately promises more than a few laughs just for the sake of laughter.
It is therefore disappointing that though it is funny, it does not tap its full potential from the directing, acting, and writing. The disappointment comes not because the play is not good, because it is that, but it could evidently be so much better.
Cooke's pen delivers some funny gems which are equally realistic, adding to their value. As such, the play is full of witticisms which often celebrate the wily Jamaican and her attempts to beat all the odds which are stocked against her.
Salmon and Silvera both gave good performances, although neither (to varying degrees) brought out the full potential of their characters. As such, though Nicholson does a good job, he should have exacted more from them.
Additionally, Salmon and Silvera suffered from opening night problems, clearly getting some of their lines mixed up and then struggling to get out of the tangle created.
Salmon's performance was too often unnecessarily 'broad', threatening to overshadow the words it should complement. All her possibly dramatic or emotional moments were played with exaggerated moves and loudness, robbing her character of any texture, and she often appeared slightly breathless from the exertion.
Silvera, on the other hand, gave a performance that allowed her character more flexibility. It was particularly interesting to watch her on-stage moment with only Benswick. Benswick plays her teenage son, Mark, and went for all the possible drama of the angst-ridden teenage boy. Then, together, the two tended to bring out the best in each other, so much so that it would have been good to see more of the mother-son relationship.
Additionally, though much was not done with Skeen's character, his presence did bring some funny moments to the stage.
The play is set in Jamaica and the United States. The set is well-built, with sufficient attention being paid to the minor details. Even so, it was not completely able to live up to the demands of the script. Given the limited space and equipment of the Barn Theatre, the space is more suited to a symbolic set, especially with productions which require more than a single set change during intermission.
However, as is the norm with Jamaican theatre, set designer Eric Junior selected a naturalistic set. This occasionally conflicted with the demands of the script, since the set was too fixed for the piece.
The costumes, on the other hand, needed much more work, with the characters sometimes appearing in very inappropriate outfits. While this would have clearly worked in a more symbolic setting, too much realism was already involved.
However, the good aspects of the production far outweigh any of its shortcomings, making Single Entry worthy of a trip to the theatre.
